An armed confrontation between two of Ukraine’s most powerful security agencies has exposed deep tensions inside Kiev’s intelligence establishment, with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and Military Intelligence Directorate (HUR) offering sharply conflicting accounts of the incident.
The dispute centres on Stepan Kaplunov, a senior officer in the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), a militia associated with HUR and commanded by far-right activist Denis Kapustin. Kaplunov disappeared on August 23 before SBU and HUR personnel reportedly exchanged gunfire in eastern Kiev during a confrontation connected to a search of his apartment, leaving three HUR-linked personnel wounded.
The SBU subsequently alleged that Kaplunov had been cooperating with Russia’s Federal Security Service and was involved in a plot to assassinate a Russian opposition figure in Ukraine. It released footage purporting to show Kaplunov confessing and screenshots allegedly documenting discussions about contract killings. Despite the seriousness of those allegations, the agency said it did not seek his formal arrest. Kaplunov, who was later released, rejected the SBU’s account and claimed his confession had been coerced after he was held for ten days, blindfolded and incommunicado, at secret detention facilities.
Kaplunov said HUR personnel ultimately intervened to secure his release and attributed the episode to longstanding rivalry between the two agencies. A HUR commander known by the callsign “Timur” similarly accused the SBU of unlawfully detaining Kaplunov, claiming an initial confrontation had been resolved peacefully before another group of SBU personnel arrived and opened fire. HUR has meanwhile warned that it is facing what it describes as a deliberate campaign to damage its reputation.
The episode has renewed scrutiny of tensions between Ukraine’s intelligence organisations, which have previously been linked to competing operations and internal disputes. President Vladimir Zelensky subsequently dismissed Oleg Khramov, an SBU official responsible for protecting state secrets, although no direct connection between his removal and the gunfight has been publicly established. The confrontation comes amid broader political pressure on Zelensky’s administration, including corruption investigations involving senior officials and continuing strains caused by the war.
The spectacle of armed personnel from rival state agencies confronting one another in the capital represents an unusually public manifestation of institutional friction within Ukraine’s security establishment. With the SBU portraying Kaplunov as a suspected Russian asset and HUR-linked figures depicting him as the victim of an unlawful detention operation, the contradictory accounts have left fundamental questions about the incident unresolved.
